The present invention relates to a fishing line tension display device of a spinning reel, and intends specifically to permit direct visual perception of the tensile force of a fishing line at the time of fighting a caught fish.
A spinning reel is generally composed of a spool, a pick-up bail mechanism which is rotated when a handle is turned to wind the fishing line on the spool and also rotated in response to paying out of the fishing line, and a drag unit which is frictionally coupled to a supporting shaft of the spool and adjusts the degree of force at which the fishing line is payed out when pulled.
The drag unit prevents cutting or breaking of the fishing line by paying out the fishing line automatically when a large tensile force is applied to the fishing line due to strong pulling or abrupt movement or tugging of a caught fish when fighting etc., and its drag force determining the strength of drawing at which the fishing line is allowed to be payed out can be adjusted by turning a control knob in either of fastening or loosening direction depending upon the thickness of the fishing line used or an expected degree of pulling strength of object fish.
A spinning reel of the foregoing sort is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-876, for example.
A conventional spinning reel as above, however, has no means for detecting and displaying the tensile force of the fishing line when fighting a caught fish; accordingly, it is impossible to judge what degree of tension is actually acting on the fishing line, and it is also impossible to judge the line tensile force only from a scale for the drag control knob which indicates drag force
Because the drag force relating to the thickness of the fishing line and object fish is typically set on the basis of an angler's experience, it is impossible to confirm whether or not the drag force set by adjustment of the control knob is set within the permitted limit of tension of the fishing line; thus, the drag force is often set too large or too small.
Although a conventional drag unit as above has a drag force scale associated with the control knob, this scale indicates only nominal drag force; thus, from reading it, the angler cannot judge the degree of tension actually exerted on the fishing line. Accordingly, the drag force is often set too large or too small.
If the drag force is set too large, and in excess of the tensile strength of the fishing line, frequent line breakage is caused when fighting a fish. If the drag force is set too small, the fishing line is unnecessarily payed out and fighting is hindered, consequently hindering landing the fish.
In fishing, it may be necessary to observe the circumstances of tide, time interyals for giving ground bait, time intervals appropriate for moving tackle up and down and of exchanging bait, time intervals of fish bites, and the depth of ledges, etc. These conditions conducive to catching fish are generally judged on the basis of angler's experience and by use of a digital electronic wrist watch, such as of the type recently marketed having alarm and stopwatch functions as well as an ordinary time display function. However, because the above type electronic wrist watch is designed for suitability of real life requirements for display of time and alarm setting; a watch of this type is of doubtful utility for fishing from the viewpoint of operability and visual perceptibility when fighting a fish, and thus can rarely be used effectively when fishing.
The present invention has been devised to solve the problems of the prior art as above; thus, it has as an object the provision of a spinning reel having a fishing line tension display device which permits direct visual perception of the tensile force acting on a fishing line at the time of fighting a fish; and which allows easy setting of drag force within the permitted limit of tension of fishing line used in the reel.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fishing reel having a multi-function display which presents display of the tensile force of a fishing line and warning of line breakage; which provides good operability and visual perceptibility in relation to indication and notification suitable for judgment of respective conditions yielding successful fishing; which display is directly incorporated within the reel to provide a more effective visual perceptability and operability than has heretofore been known; and which display also provides a time-of-day, stopwatch, and alarm time modes of operation.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a fishing reel including such a multi-function display of digital type and which includes a central processing unit (CPU) with a ROM-structured program memory for storage of data and programs, as well sa RAM-structured memory, and by means of which CPU the display is controlled.
Other objects of the invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinbelow.